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Wednesday, 26 August 2015

Charge Your Phone the Lo-Fi Way

Charging Phone – Lo-Fi Way - Nipper

From pocket solar panels and kinetic energy converting armbands to wireless inductive charging docks, portable phone charger market seems to be more like science fiction with each passing day. For those interested in updated lo-fi option or has a backlog of AA batteries around the place, could utilise a gadget known as Nipper which could be of some help.

The Nipper tends to hold in place, two AA batteries with magnets and plugs in the smartphone’s micro USB port in order to deliver extra jolt of power around 10% with 30 minute charge and 20% with one hour charging. It has been developed for the purpose of quick spurts and emergencies instead of full fuel ups and is appropriate for those moments of time when one tends to be trapped in a subway station and to avoid the risk of arrest by plugging into an outlet.

The Nipper is hyper portable measuring around 17mm cubes and fits on a keychain. Presently it only works on phones with micro-USB connectors with models of Samsung, HTC, Nokia and other Android devices. However, the designers are of the opinion that an iPhone compatible option is in the pipeline and the first Nipper would be shipped in April 2016.

Small Phone Charger – Emergency Use

The Nipper is a small phone charger, small enough to be carried around wherever you go and is readily available everywhere – household AA batteries and is primarily designed for emergency use. It is the phone’s smallest phone charger and can be carried anywhere.

When one is in desperate need in using the phone, but is unable to access to the laptops, electrical sockets, wind turbine or solar panels, the Nipper comes to your aid in these situations. When it is not being used, it can be attached to a keychain, pocket or bag and when needed, you can open the Nipper and place two AA batteries between the magnets and connect the same to the phone.

The Nipper tends to give an extra 10% battery capacity in 30 minutes and 20% in over an hour for a modern smartphone which was tested by utilising a HTC one M7 with Duracell Ultra AA batteries. The power output differs based on the batteries used, in the case of new Duracell batteries; it was found that it gave 500mAh.

Circuit – Boost Converter

The Nipper comprises of 3 neodynium magnets and have the double function of holding the batteries in place while simultaneously makes an electrical connection to the Nipper circuit board. This circuit is known as a boost converter which turns the power from the batteries into a 5v power supply in order to charge the phone.
If the volume of Nipper is small, 3D print of the cases out of high quality nylon will be done but if the demand is high and the need to make a full Nipper army is needed, mold will be injected in the cases out of polypropylene. The two halves of the Nipper can be connected by fabric or genuine leather straps. The neodymium is the nickel plated on the classic Nippers while gold plated on premium Nippers.

The AA batteries are generally recognized and the most widely sold battery and though it does not seems to be sensible relying on AA batteries for daily charging of the phone, it could prove to be handy in times of emergency.